Good morning.
On Tuesday we covered some sunny news coming out of Florida (in the form of a miracle tree), but there's obviously a not-so-sunny reality bearing down on the state now.
As Hurricane Ian makes landfall this week and continues to sweep its way north, we're thinking about our friends in the Southeast. Farmers in Florida and Georgia have been bracing for the worst, and doing what they can to protect their harvests. The storm is heading to the Carolinas now.
If you're one of those impacted, the USDA and FEMA partnered to provide the Disaster Resource Center, which can help producers prep and/or recover from hurricane damage.
More news on the scroll.
Stories:
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The Great Glyphosate Debate
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Mexican GM Corn Ban Looms
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Investors Believe in the Future of Flies
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The Great Glyphosate Debate
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These boots were made for walkin’, and that’s just what the EPA did.
Bye for now: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said sayonara (kinda) to a legal battle on their interim determination that there is no evidence linking glyphosate—the active ingredient in the weed killer, Roundup—to cancer.
Wake me up when September ends: The EPA had an Oct. 1 deadline, set back in June by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, to reassess the risk of glyphosate. The EPA realized it’s late September, and said, "Wow, look at the time!"
The Endangered Species Act review and health-assessment analysis would take months to complete, not merely *looks at watch* days. Plus, there’s the required public comment period of at least 60 days.
But the lawsuits: In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research said nope, you’re wrong to the EPA—the WHO had been issuing warnings classifying glyphosate as a probable cancer-causing agent since 2015.
The maker of Roundup, Bayer, has been hit with thousands of lawsuits by former users who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Not gone long: The EPA is all, "We’ll be back" (*Arnold Schwarzenegger voice*), saying they intend to revisit and better explain their evaluation of how glyphosate isn’t a carcinogen. ETA: 2026.
TL;DR: Farmers can continue to use the weed killer.
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→ Cash for connection. Half a billion dollars of federal grant money is headed to rural areas throughout the U.S. to improve regions’ access to high-speed internet.
→ Trapping funds. Slovenia-based company Trapview raised €10M in a Series B round to speed up commercialization of its insect monitoring and forecasting platform.
→ Latest shortage: sulfur. With 80%+ of the world’s sulfur supply coming from the desulfurization of crude oil and natural gas, decarbonization policies could lead to a shortage of the raw material, which is used to make phosphorous fertilizer.
→ Fertilizer funds. Amid rising fertilizer costs and continued global instability, the Biden administration has announced $500M in federal grants to spur domestic fertilizer production.
→ Bringing home—er, paying, the bacon. After shelling out $125M in settlements to direct purchasers and restaurant owners/caterers since 2021, Smithfield Foods is now paying $75M to settle its latest price-fixing case.
→ Mid-America making waves. The U.S. Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center approved three new inland ports in the Corn Belt region—additions that experts hope will ease some of the ongoing U.S. shipping delays.
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Mexican GM Corn Ban Looms |
venturecx from Getty Images
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Mexico’s looming ban on GM corn imports has been updated from a "watch" to a "warning."
And after nearly two years of watchful eyes, the sirens are officially going off.
Refresher: At the end of 2020, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced that his country would stop importing transgenic corn starting in January 2024.
What’s the issue? Proponents of the ban claim that GM corn will contaminate the nation’s native varieties. And as the birthplace of the modern corn plant, Mexico is rather finicky on this issue.
Open to compromise? Victor Villalobos, Mexico’s Agriculture Minister, has indicated that the import ban will not affect yellow corn used for livestock feed.
Or… maybe not. His comments aren’t "official" Mexican policy, and AMLO stated earlier this month, "We do not accept GMO corn."
Dun dun dunnn…
But here’s the rub, AMLO: Mexico imports 17M metric tons of corn from the U.S. each year. And, it’s estimated that the ban will increase their corn import costs by $4.4B over a decade-long period, contributing to food insecurity.
A United (States) response: As some ag and trade groups suggest the possibility of a USMCA trade agreement breach, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says that talks over the issue are ongoing.
Yet as ag groups, biotech firms, and international corn growers all begin to lobby the Mexican government, Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, warned, "Patience will wear thin in a few more months… we’ve got to change tactics."
So buckle up… ‘cause it’s bound to be a wild ride.
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A-maizing corn maze! USA Today recently named the nation’s best corn maze. After five straight years in the running, Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant, Maine finally received the honor.
Can you guess which Disney theme/characters they modeled the maze after?
- The Lion King
- Pocahontas
- Toy Story
- Winnie-the-Pooh
Answer at the bottom of the email.
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Investors Believe in the Future of Flies |
"Money, money, money [and it’s] always sunny" in Innovafeed’s world. The insect producer happily raised $250M in a Series D funding round, which both ADM and Cargill joined.
What’s the buzz? Innovafeed is a leader in the production of black soldier flies for animal and plant nutrition. The company is building a zero waste and circular agri-food chain by replicating the insect’s natural role.
The company’s total financing is up to $450M, which will make a global technology rollout possible. Additionally, the bags of Benjamins will be invested in R&D for the development of high-performance ingredients for animals, plants, and somewhere down the road, even humans.
A little buggy: Innovafeed currently boasts a wide offering of products, including everything from insect protein for aquaculture, insect oil for pigs and poultry, and a completely natural fertilizer from insect droppings (as fertilizer costs continue to rise, perhaps the answer is the by-product of black soldier flies?!).
"Mo’ money, mo’ problems flies." Founded in Paris in 2016, Innovafeed has two vertical insect farms in the north of France. The latest round of funding will allow Innovafeed to finish constructing these farms—one of which they claim is the largest of its kind in the world.
Closer to home, Innovafeed confirmed its U.S. expansion with a production plant in Decatur, Illinois in partnership with ADM. Innovafeed previously said the facility would be ready by 2024.
They also hope to build ten farms similar to those in France by the end of the decade.
Soundbite: "Our expansion in the United States is a critical step for our scale-up," said newly appointed general manager for the North American market, Maye Walraven. "It will enable us to access a deep source of feedstock and significantly increase our production capacity."
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"Winnie-the-Pooh." The maze features Pooh and Piglet eating out of a honeypot and was created entirely by hand: "all old school," said co-owner Jon Kenerson.
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Written & Edited by Sheridan Wimmer, Kevin Cross, Amelia VanLandegen, Ashley Scoby, and Travis Martin
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